Iraq: Iraqis fleeing Falluja ahead of the US assault yesterday described a city deserted and already destroyed by weeks of bombing raids.
At least 200,000 people are thought to have poured out of the city, many heading to nearby suburbs of western Baghdad where they are sheltering with relatives. Thousands more remain in Falluja to sit out the US attack.
Although American and Iraqi officials insist they are fighting with the support of most ordinary Fallujans, residents spoke openly of their hostility to the US operation.
Yesterday Mr Abu Mohammad al-Shamari, an unemployed computer engineer, was at an office of the Iraqi Islamic party, a Sunni political group, in Amariya, a district of western Baghdad. The party has found housing for fleeing families and is providing them with food and money.
"When you go to Falluja what grabs your attention is the destruction. You see destruction everywhere," said Mr al-Shamari (28).
He left the city on Friday with his wife and two-year-old son, and is staying with relatives. "We know the Americans are a major power and that the Iraqi government has no will, they just receive instructions. Yet they will not control Falluja."
Many of the men in the crowd cited examples of other Sunni cities in Iraq that have been attacked by the US military. Last month the military seized control of Samarra, in what it said was a model operation. But in recent days there has been a string of suicide bombings in the city, suggesting that insurgents who fled the attack have simply regrouped and returned.
"Even if we accept what they are saying about terrorists, what is the fault of the people of Fallujah? If the government cannot control Falluja how can we control the terrorists and hand them over for trial?" asked Mr al-Shamari.
Next to him was another young man who also left the city on Friday. Mr Hudaifa al-Ani, a lecturer at Baghdad University, said the streets were deserted.
"Falluja is dead after 4 p.m. You cannot see anyone around," he said. "Sometimes you see a man by himself staying to protect his house or his shop from being looted. Before it was a prosperous crowded city - now it is completely destroyed."
The streets are controlled by armed groups of Iraqi rebels.
"The mujahideen of Falluja are people with a cause," said Mr al-Ani. "We believe in them, regardless of the fact that sometimes they commit unreasonable acts. But I don't believe in fighting inside a city - it means destruction for all."
Several thousand civilians remain in the city, despite warnings for weeks of an imminent attack. "They refuse to leave their homes, they say death with honour is better than walking the streets looking for cover," said Sheikh Mohammad Bashir al-Faidhi, a spokesman for the Muslim Clerics Association, a Sunni religious group in Baghdad that has links with the insurgents. - (Guardian service)